Hatching experiment - Time to make my Muscovy a mom!

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

It’s time! My Muscovy girl lost her sister last fall, and I’ve been thinking of adding to the small flock of 3 since then. Sooo, I waited and waited. Finally, my remaining Muscovy girl started laying again, and in true Muscovy style dove into broodyness with great enthusiasm. After looking locally for hatching eggs, I decided to order eggs. I ordered 3 Rouens and 3 Welsh Harlequins, as I couldn’t find any fertile Muscovy eggs.

The eggs arrived today - 4 Rouen eggs and 4 Welsh Harlequin eggs! One Rouen has a tiny crack, but the others look good.

I immediately swapped out my Muscovy girl’s eggs for the fertile ones while she was on a “broody break”. She immediately went back to incubating.

Stay tuned!

Note: I didn’t candle them yet, but will at some point. This is an experiment. If they don’t hatch, I will remain happy with my flock of 3. If they do hatch, well, things will get interesting!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh, do I look forward to this adventure.

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Today is day 7. I haven’t candled her eggs yet. I think I’ll wait another week as it should be decently obvious at that point, even for a beginner like me! Mama is doing very well and is extremely dedicated. I make her take two short breaks daily to poop and eat and bathe if she wants to. She’s usually an extreme grump when broody, but she seems to know something is different this time… or maybe it’s because we are not fighting the broodyness, and have let her have the whole horse stall as her “apartment”, while Remi and Matilda get the rest of the barn at night and are out during the day.